, and so we at the time had built seven air bases and developed a port there as well to facilitate the u.s. effort i the vietnam war and also many american soldiers went on r and r to bangkok and spent a lot of time there. so in terms of direct support and more peripheral support, thailand was a close ally of th u.s. and an important part of the war effort. >> host: did they have soldiers, did that country have soldiers in seat fam? >> guest: absolutely. and that's what i concentrate on in the book. thailand sent some 37,000 soldiers. half were combat soldiers, other half combat support troops. they also sent some smaller naval and air units, but still there were definitely combat units fighting outside of saigo working with the united states, working with is south vietnames ask the other allies, the filipinos, the europeans. >> host: what about casualtie? >> guest: they took 500 plus casualties -- well, i should sa 500 thais died in south vietnam while fighting what we call the viet cong in the south, and i thi